Childhood, culture and cognition

The research unit Childhood, Culture & Cognition is devoted to the study of early childhood and to children’s developing understandings of the social world. Drawing on combined insights from cognitive and cultural sociology, developmental psychology and the sociology of childhood, the central aim of our research is to unravel the elusive process of ‘primary socialization’ and the ways in which this process is shaped by children’s own social position.

Research within the unit is organized along three distinct axes. The first axis focuses on the early development of the classificatory schemata that enable children to orient themselves in social space and to navigate the divisions of class, gender and ethnicity that define the structure of this space. Through the use of visual, game-based methodologies we aim to understand how and when children learn to recognize these divisions and apply them in their everyday judgments of people and things. A second research axis is devoted to understanding how such schemata in turn inform children’s social behavior. By combining methods like ethnographic observation, sociometric nomination and social network analysis, we aim to unravel the logic of children’s early social interactions and the ways in which these consolidate into more enduring relationships and networks. A third axis concerns itself with the origins of children’s early representations of the social world. Research in this axis aims to assess the relative contribution of family, school, media and popular culture in shaping the way that young children come to understand the social order in which they grow up.

Together, these different axes of research not only aim to contribute to a better theoretical understanding of the process of primary socialization, but also to the development of research methods that are more attuned to the lifeworld of young children and to the ethical dimensions of childhood research.